UAMS Movement Disorders Clinic to Offer Art for Parkinson’s Classes in Little Rock, Hot Springs
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Movement Disorders Clinic is offering free art therapy workshops for Parkinson’s disease patients and their caregivers this fall in Little Rock and Hot Springs.
The Art for Parkinson’s workshops, for which no experience is necessary and all materials will be provided, are scheduled for Oct. 11, Nov. 15 and Dec. 13 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church at 12415 Cantrell Road in Little Rock, and Oct. 13 at FBC Fitness at 2350 Central Ave. in Hot Springs.
Each session runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon, and a virtual component is available for those who are unable to participate in person. Participants are urged to wear comfortable clothes that they don’t mind getting dirty and are encouraged to attend as many sessions as they wish.
Registration is required to attend. To register, contact Suzanne Dhall, Dr.PH., MSPH, CHES, a health educator in the UAMS Department of Neurology, at sjdhall@uams.edu or by calling or texting 602-635-0739.
The classes were first offered in the spring and are returning due to popular demand, again in partnership with Arts Integration Services of Little Rock. Instructor Elly Bates, a painter by trade, guides participants as they experiment with different types of art mediums while following a theme, such as music or light.
Participants can take their finished artwork home or leave it behind to be included in an art show of work from all the fall sessions.
The classes are made possible through a donation to the UAMS Parkinson’s Disease Fund from Barbara and David Hogg of El Dorado. Barbara Hogg obtained a bachelor’s degree from the UAMS College of Nursing in 1995 but couldn’t complete her master’s degree because of a Parkinson’s diagnosis, for which she has been treated extensively at UAMS. The Hoggs’ support of the Parkinson’s program includes funding specifically for art education.
Research has shown that drawing or painting may help Parkinson’s patients improve their motor skills, and patients have reported that it helps them control their tremors.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder affecting dopamine-producing areas in the brain. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the United States and affects about 6,500 people in Arkansas.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###